At a cost of $830,000 each, times the 59 that were launched.. that’s $49,000,000 to (maybe) destroy one middle east military airbase. It likely didn’t cost that much to build the damn place to begin with. So, what did we get for our investment?Doesn’t matter. We are America and we can afford these things; we can afford spending this much to make moral statements. We probably spend this much each year on over-priced toilet seats.

But.. our President sent a message.. loud and clear message… to the entire world! I certainly heard it loud and clear, and I live in the middle of a damn desert. Here’s the message I heard from the President… “I have NO idea what I am doing.” Oh, wait… the message wasn’t meant for me? It was meant for Assad? Well, Mr. President, I guess you sure showed him a thing or two (or, 59)!

So let me get this straight. Seven, eight years of civil war where Assad has killed his people with barrel bombs and bio-attacks to the tune of 400,000 deaths. Trump sees pictures of 70+ civilians killed by a gas attack and he decides to launch 59 Tomahawks at a (likely) empty airbase. Speaking of pictures… isn’t there something not right with this picture?

One sure good thing from all this is that likely Trump’s approval rating will go up a bit. Hot damn. Are we still proud to be American?! This is making America great… again?

Okay… sarcasm, shock & awe aside, this thing was misguided from the get go. Everyone likes a list.. so let’s make a list.

My president (not MY president) saw a picture of dead babies killed from a gas attack and got so emotional he had to authorize a missile strike, using 59 missiles.Seems a little impulsive to me. Apparently placing the event in a greater perspective of any number of possible ramifications was not necessary. Apparently trying to focus on a solution to the regional problem of death occurring everywhere was not necessary. Kinda gives a bit of credence to those Americans fearing Trump having a finger on the nuclear button. Now our enemies know that to piss off our President to the point of getting him to respond impulsively all they have to do is send him a photo of dead babies.

Now, it appears our friends and allies are all sounding their accolades at America finally taking leadership of the Syrian situation.Actually, that’s what friends do.. after all, friendships reflect loyalty and accept friends that can be idiots. But wouldn’t it have been a little wiser if Trump got all our so-called “friends” together in advance, in order to spread around all this moral knee-jerk, and made a military intervention a coordinated, strategic and political affair in some coalition-of-the-willing? Why was it so important for the U.S. to “go it alone”?

How in gawd’s name is the reason for this strike somehow being attributed to the safety and security of the United States?A better reason might have been the removal of Assad as contributing to the safety and security of the United States. Not sure a military airfield qualifies as a clear & present danger and vital to our security interests .

Hey, Trump.. you want morality? As of this writing six people on the ground were apparently killed in the missile attack. Reports are that Assad’s gas attack killed 70+ people. Your airstrike just added six more to that list… that YOU could have prevented. I don’t care if they might have been Russians, Greeks, or a tour group from Alabama.. they also had families. Who mourns for them? What lunatic world leader is going to be on their side and strike back? Forget your impulsive morality. Control yourself and lead the country.

No one has mentioned this thus far, but seems to me there’s some protocol thing in making a military strike on another sovereign nation while you are in the middle of entertaining the leader of another nation at home? I mean, would that kind of imply the visiting leader might look like he is approving it? “Excuse me. Xi, I have to go launch 59 Tomahawks into Syria. I’ll be back in a minute.” “Oh, sure, Donald, I’ll just wait here. Take your time.”

“Well, Mr. President… you’ve struck a hammer blow for freedom and democracy, and saved the world from destruction. What are you going to do now?”

What’s the followup to all this, Mr. President? Do we start using diplomacy in Syria or we just going to continue with the occasional Tomahawk? You see, up until this stunt Russia has been in the target sights of radical terrorism because of their siding with Assad and bombing their positions. You given any thought that maybe there might be an increased threat toward Americans somewhere in the world? While maybe YOU think this airstrike was “sending a message to Assad”… it’s surly sent any number of messages to other folks. As of this writing, barely 24 hours later, there is still no official call from the White House for Assad to step down. Then what was all this about?

Hey… here’s another list for the list people. A list about the messages everyone likely got.

—The Message Received with Assad and his followers…

“Oops.. I guess I messed up. Sorry, Trump, I’ll not make it so obvious next time.”

He now knows we will drop a Tomahawk on his ass if he messes with WMD’s of any kind. Um.. maybe. After all, Trump is pretty impulsive. Although, Assad could keep using the stuff, making sure no dead baby pictures show up in the press. He certainly doesn’t have to get out of Dodge because the U.S. and its allies have no Syrian policy. Hell, just sit back and enjoy the fireworks while you still can, Assad.

—The Message Received by the Syrian Rebels…

“FINALLY! Pass the ammunition!”

—The Message Received in Russia…

“We are complicit?? Where’s the proof? It’s all fake news!”

Well, Putin has to decide what message he got. We are certainly not likely to fling a Tomahawk his way, nor is Russia any sort of a military threat to us. Officially they will jump up and down simply because they are Russian. Prudence would dictate the U.S. and allies adopt some policy that includes Russia in any Syrian talks. Other than that, the Russians should just get out of the way or become collateral damage. The message Russia likely got in the halls of the Kremlin is… “Keep your ducks in order, Assad, or else.” The “or else” is likely an empty threat to Assad.

One can’t help but wonder.. did we piss off Putin enough for him to release something regarding Trump and/or his administration having a Russian history?

—The Message Received in Iran…

“Hmmm… veeeery interesting.”

They are busy feeding on their own ideology, although they likely suddenly looked up for a moment to see what was going on. They might recall what a Tomahawk missile can do in the hands of an erratic world leader and file that in the back of their fundamentalist minds for future reference. That would be a message we’d want them to have received.. but likely not the one they actually received.

—The Message Received in North Korea…

“Hey, Great Satan! Look over here! I got nukes!”

—The Message Received by Isis…

“Your point, President Trump?”

These folks don’t care about a thing other than blowing themselves up as bombs against the infidel. Business as usual for them.

—Message to Congress….

“The President doesn’t need your permission for this kind of thing.” (Although, given who is currently behind the wheel I wonder if maybe he should get permission.)

—Message to Trump Supporters…

“See?! I’m kicking ass like I said I would and I am fixing Obama’s mistakes!”

Let’s have a rally and celebrate!

—Message to Anti-Trumpsters…

“You just knew something this stupid was bound to occur. We told you so.”

But it doesn’t make us feel any better.

—Message to Jared Kushner…

“Great job, Dad! Can I go visit Antarctica now?”

In conclusion…

Here’s a thought, Mr. President. When Assad leaves perhaps you can go with him? Oh, wait. The Trumpsters and Ignorati are going to bemoan the fact that I am not patriotic and supporting my president. Well, here’s the thing.. we are NOT at war with anyone. Our freedoms are NOT being threatened. No enemy is marching up Main Street, USA. I will continue to criticize the President when he needs it because… our president knows not what he does, and, it’s my responsibility as an American to do so.

4 Comments

It’s a complete mess. 59 missiles at the cost of a new hospital, and there are still intact planes on the ground. Trump was upset by those kids, but not by the schoolchildren killed in coalition attacks. And has everyone forgotten how many children were killed in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, Berlin, and London? Innocents die in wars, that is the nature of them. Escalating this conflict will only guarantee the deaths of more children. But they won’t matter, because they were not killed by ‘chemical weapons’ They are always still dead, whatever the degree of munitions delivered.
I am tired of this stuff. So tired.
Best wishes, Pete.

I’m with you, Pete. And as I only posted this a few hours ago the death toll of the Trump Strike is 9 now.. and the analysts are showing the missiles “only” targeted structures around the runway.. and in fact, didn’t even manage to destroy those hardened aircraft parking shelters. The runways themselves were not even a target and you’d think in the least you would disable the runways. Pete, in the end this is all looking like a missile strike that really did no strategic damage at all and likely was only marginal in its political effect. The funny thing is likely this escalated nothing yet got the U.S. involved.` Yes.. another damn embarrassing Trump mess. On top of all this, there’s still the palace intrigue; now he’s going to replace the WH chief of staff.
I have no answers, Pete.. and as an American I am still embarrassed as hell this guy got himself elected.

He finally got some “positive” press….his jobs report sucked…..I have read that only 39 were hits and I am trying to find clarification….where the other 20 or so go? Flint water would cost about $49 million to fix and yet we had to blow up nothing….good plan infrastructure plan. He is getting all the atta boys he has wanted in the last 70+ days…..this was a political move had little to do with anything else. chuq

Yeah, I’m sure he feels better. Poor Donald is so misunderstood (sniff).
I’ve not heard there were any misses.. just that 60 were fired, one fell into the drink and another was launched in its place.
I had a thought.. you think the runways were left alone as a “just in case” we ever needed them?
Tomahawks are not runway busters by design anyway.